


Burning for You

by SkeletalSailor



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-23 10:54:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13188597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkeletalSailor/pseuds/SkeletalSailor
Summary: First Meeting AU where Gladio and Ignis' first meeting was because the citadel catches fire.AKA the one where Ignis jumps out of a window and into Gladio's arms





	Burning for You

**Author's Note:**

> My attempt at filling this prompt over at the kinkmeme: https://ffxv-kinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/4398.html?thread=8172334

It had started simply enough; a loose scarf dangled over an unattended heater in one of the many rooms of the Citadel.

They had been in meetings the entire day, and at this point in their current one, Ignis was running solely on the last few drops of his mega-sized can of Ebony that Regis had so thoughtfully provided for him. King Regis, bless his soul, had always been a bit carefree. When Ignis voiced his concerns about the burnt scent permeating the air, he was met with a low chuckle and the suggestion that one of the cooks was burning something.

"We can't all be such excellent cooks as yourself, Ignis," Regis had said.

As flattered as he had been, Ignis wished he had stuck to his gut feelings, because as it turned out, a scarf had caught fire in the adjacent room to their meeting. A scarf that spread the fire to the curtain, then to the walls, and then, eventually, to an oil lamp that had combust and spread the fire even further, raging across the rest of the wing.

Perhaps, maybe, if he had been a bit more energetic in his protests, they wouldn't be in this situation. By the time they saw the smoke, the fire wasn't far behind, and neither were the panicked-yet-dutiful attendants to evacuate the citadel.

Ignis had made a point to guide Noctis to safety first; he swore to protect the boy, so his safety always came first. The prince would have been simple enough to get out of danger, he was more than nimble enough to make his way down the stairs and through the throng of evacuees.

The king, unfortunately, was less so, and Noct was ever-the-worried son and prince. As Regis limped, stumbling as he tried to increase his walking pace to keep up with his son, Noct had stopped his advance at the bottom of the stairs to wait for them to catch up.

As Ignis helped the King down the stairs, he bit his lip, biting back the _"Your highness, you soft-hearted dolt, get the fuck out of this burning palace"_ that danced on his tongue, reminding himself that even if they were in a dangerous situation, King Regis was currently standing next to him and would probably not approve of him using such language around his son.

Half-way down the steps, Ignis' attention was grabbed by a creaking and crackling above head. He glanced up, tensing when he saw the weakening support beam; it was unlikely that Regis would be able to clear the rest of the steps by normal means before the beams gave out, and Ignis certainly wasn't about to abandon his king to be crushed under burning rubble.

It was a split-second decision.

Ignis turned to the king, a regretful frown on his face. "Forgive me, your majesty."

Regis had opened his mouth, perhaps to ask a clueless _"for what?"_ , but didn't get any words out before Ignis gripped him tightly by his royal raiment, shoving him as forcefully as he could and hoping his aging body would be able to withstand the fall.

He smiled with faint relief as he watched Noctis catch the king, breaking his fall before he hit the bottom of the stairs.

Ignis had also used the shove to push himself back, in the opposite direction. He tripped over the stairs, but still thankfully landed far enough to avoid the burning beam that crashed down soon after.

"Specs!" Noctis shouted, his voice breaking with the worry in his voice.

Ignis pushed himself up, pulling his shirt to cover his face from the smoke as he backed away from the beam sizzling in front of his path. "I'm alright! Get yourselves to safety; I'll circle around and meet you outside!"

Noctis hesitantly nodded, leading his father to the smoke-free corridors.

With a small breath of relief, Ignis made his way back up the stairs. There was a similar exit on the other side of the citadel; if he was quick enough, he could make his way to the end of the palace and get out.

Ignis braced himself; he really wasn't dressed for running, but he would have to make due.

 

* * *

 

 

Gladio hadn't been meant to be on-duty today, and he was pretty damn sure wasn't getting paid for any work he did today, but seeing the smoke and flames coming from the palace was more than enough to spark his concerns.

His worry had almost been extinguished when he spotted Noctis and the king; they were safe and sound, so surely everyone else had managed to be evacuated too, right?

"He's still in there!" Noctis cried out. "We can't just leave him!"

"We don't know that," Regis frowned. "He could've been delayed in getting here; it won't do anyone any good to go rushing in when he could be safe."

"But what if Specs is trapped?!" Noctis argued. "He could die!"

Gladio frowned, suddenly aware of the possibility of not everyone getting out of the inferno. With a huff, Gladio decided to scope out any possible stragglers. After all, it was always a good day to be a hero, right?

 

* * *

 

 

No good. Ignis had rushed as fast as he could, but a floor crumbling in front of him left him without a definite exit, and the rising flames and smoke left him trapped right back in the room he had just helped his majesty and the young prince escape from.

He closed the doors, desperate for any amount of smoke-free air he could get. He was trapped; completely and utterly trapped, waiting for what was certain oblivion.

He backed as far away as possible, towards the windows. His heart raced as he watched flames blaze from under the door. There was no way out.

Or was there? Ignis glanced back, his eyes scanning over the windows behind him. He whipped around, unhooking the safety latches before shoving the glass panes open. This was his chance; his chance at life and freedom from the blaze.

He placed a foot up, climbing onto the windowsill. His heart sank when he realized exactly how high off the ground he was in this room.

He was only on the second floor, but the palace's grandiose rooms set him quite a lot higher than an average building. He was approximately thirty feet from ground level; at six feet tall, that was five times his height, and added with how slender his build was, the risk of jumping from such a height was horrendous.

Perhaps, maybe, if he landed right, he would be able to walk away with simply shattered legs and potentially an inability to properly provide care for Noctis ever again, but even that possibility was low given he had no training on how to land jumps like this. More likely, he would land wrong and end up just as dead as if he remained in the room.

At this point, it was merely a decision of how he wanted to die; to suffocate from a lack of oxygen, be burned alive, or with a broken spine on the pavement below.

Ignis swallowed nervously as the smoke rose to the ceiling of the room. Perhaps if he suffocated quickly enough, he would pass out and not feel anything. He certainly didn't want to feel his skin being burned off of him...

"Hey! You!"

Ignis was snapped out of his morbid, panicked thoughts by a gruff voice calling from below. He swallowed, trying to steady his voice before speaking.

"Are you alright?" Gladio asked, shouting loud enough for his voice to reach the panicked chamberlain.

"No, I'm trapped!" Despite his attempts to steady his voice, the terror still came through.

"Can you get down?" He asked, brows furrowing.

Ignis glanced around. The citadel's outer walls were, unfortunately, incredibly smooth and impossible to climb up or down. "No," Ignis yelled back. "Not without jumping."

"Then do that," Gladio replied.

"I beg your pardon?" Ignis was more than a little taken aback. Was this man mad?

"Jump," Gladio repeated. "Jump down."

"Are you _mad?_ " Ignis vocalized his thoughts. "I'm at least ninety percent sure this is a critical fall!"

Ignis couldn't help but let out a panicked shriek as a beam collapsed behind him, the heat heavy on his back as the fire raged.

"And _I'm_ one hundred percent sure you'll die if you stay up there!" Gladio yelled back. "Just jump! I'll catch you!"

Ignis trembled as he gripped the frames of the window. "You're absolutely sure you will? You promise you'll catch me?"

"I promise," Gladio replied, spreading his arms in preparation. He wasn't normally one to make promises to people he just met, but he knew getting burned to death would be a sucky way to die.

"A-Alright," Ignis stuttered, taking a deep breath to calm himself. Well, calm himself as much as he could with a _burning blaze right at his heels_. "Get ready!"

Gladio huffed, readying himself to move the moment the lanky man above made his leap.

Ignis shuddered with fear; he half-considered deciding on not jumping and resigning to his fate in the flames instead of the uncertainty of this man he never met before catching him; at least if he stayed at the mercy of the flames, the outcome was certain.

But he had to at least attempt to live, for his kingdom and Noct's sake. So with a sharp breath and closed eyes, he leaped.

His stomach was doing flips as he fell, and it felt like he was falling forever, but he didn't dare open his eyes; if he saw his descent, he was fairly certain his heart would beat directly out of his chest.

He barely registered when his fall stopped, a sudden jostle as he collided with another body with a grunt. He hesitated to open his eyes, his fists clenched so tightly in terror that his knuckles were white.

"Hey, you good?" The voice spoke softly, tapping on his shoulder.

Finally, Ignis peeked a single eye open and glanced around.

He was safe, in the arms of... whoever this was, who had carried him a decent distance away from the fire raging in the citadel.

He turned his attention back to the man himself, and his eyes stared at the scruffy face and hazel eyes looking down at him.

Ignis averted his gaze when he realized he was staring a bit too intensely, and cleared his throat when he realized he hadn't dignified the man with an answer.

"I... I'm fine." Ignis nodded.

"Can you stand?" The man asked.

Ignis, once again, became suddenly aware that neither of his feet were on the ground, being held up essentially effortlessly by the muscular man. "Yes, I should be able to."

Ignis' voice was shaking, but he couldn't be blamed. What he had just done was, without a doubt, one of the most terrifying things to ever happen to him. When his feet were placed on the ground, he was all too eager to put some distance between himself and the man holding him.

Perhaps a bit too eager, he decided, when his legs shook and almost immediately gave out. Thankfully, Gladio was there to save him from his fall once more, grabbing him by the hand and pulling him back against him.

"Whoa, easy there," Gladio chuckled.

"M-My apologies," Ignis stumbled over his words almost as much as he stumbled over his feet.

"No problem," He assured. "Shock is a hell of a drug, I get it."

When Ignis finally gained a little semblance of composure, he stepped away with a heavy breath of relief, his heart still racing with leftover adrenaline. He was alive, he was safe, and all of his limbs were fully in tact.

It was all thanks to this man in front of him; this muscular, scarred, tattooed, strikingly handsome man. Was Ignis blushing? He was. He definitely was, but he was certain he could play it off as being a result of the heat from the fire.

Eventually, Ignis held out his hand in a simple gesture of introduction. "I'm Ignis Scientia, chamberlain to Crown Prince Noctis." Ignis spoke once he managed to steady his nerves.

Gladio chuckled, taking the offered hand with a strong grip. "Gladiolus Amicitia; sworn shield to Prince Noctis. It's damn shame we had to meet under these kinds of circumstances."

"You're Noct's shield?" Ignis swallowed his surprise, his nerves hindering his ability to properly hold a conversation. "You saved my life, Gladiolus. Thank you."

Gladio scratched his head. "Hey, no problem. I wouldn't just leave someone to die; I just did what anyone would do."

"Regardless, I'm grateful for your help," Ignis bowed respectfully. "I swear, I will find a way to repay you."

A moment of shock crossed Gladio's features before his lips curled into a smile. "It's not a big deal, but if you're so set on repaying me..."

Ignis straightened up as Gladio practically smirked with confidence. "Yes?"

"How about..." Gladio raised a single finger. "... one date?"

Ignis blinked. Then blinked again. Then found himself chuckling at the ridiculous statement. "I'll consider it."

 


End file.
